Jeremy Parr schrieb:
I am looking at getting a shortwave radio, and am concerned about antenna
options. My place of residence has a small attic, about 25' x 25', and the
lot is small as well, about 40' x 120'. What options would I have for good
reception?

For shortwave you should try to get as high as posibe with the feeding
point of your antenna. If you can, go to the roof and take some 4-8
insulated thin wires with differnt legths between 15' and "as long as
possible". Spread them out like a wing above your roof and the lot. Tie
up the end of the wires as high as possible maybe by using an extension
wire insulated from the antenna wire. All antenna wires do connect to
the center of a 50 ohm coax cable running to your SW-radio. If possible
do run a a thick copper wire from the shielding of the coax cable(s) to
a separate grounding rod buried at least 6' deep into the ground. Do
_n_o_t_ connect to a lightning protection system! Cheap RG 58C/U (double
shielded) for RX only on shortwave does it fine. At least a simple wire
with a length of 50' will do the job for a beginner :-)
For your scanner put up a discone antenna on the roof top and run a
separate coax to it. For the scanner do take a high quality cable. Coax
cables used to feed from satellite dishes with double shielding just do
fine. On scanners the 50 Ohms for input impedance is just theoretical.
So mismatching of the 75 Ohm cable is no argument.

Also, what would be a decent radio? I am looking at keeping the cost of
antenna system + radio under $500, but if there is a compelling reason to go
over I will consider it. Would it be better to get a shortwave radio, and a
scanner to do trunking stuff? Or is there a RXer that can do DC-Daylight
w/trunk tracking?

There are very few professioal grade scanners from Icom and AOR for
example wich do "DC-daylight" just fine. But without tunking capablites
and way out of your money limit. Even a really good tabletop SW receiver
will blow up your limit easily. Maybe you go lucky to get a used Drake
or JRC SW-radio within your limit. Shortwave listening and scanning on
VHF/UHF are completely different worlds. As I do live in Germany I'm not
into the trunking stuff used in the US.

regards,
Volker

"Jeremy Parr" wrote in
:


Don't go overboard and ruin the experience for yourself. If you get too
deep into the more technical stuff, you're likely to be discouraged.

Of tabletops, I have the Yaesu FRG-100 and the Icom R-75, they are
comparable in price and performance. Tabletop radios offer much greater
performance and would be my choice for a 1st radio.

For portables, I have the Sangean ATS-909 and the Sony 7600GR. I feel
that these radios are comparable in performance, but the ATS-909 retails
for more than the Sony 7600GR.

I'd forget about wideband receivers. Though they seem to offer quite a
deal by integrating a variety of reception options into one receiver,
they actually compromise the ability of the radio to perform well in
specific bands. I have several wideband handheld receivers, they all
suffer from intermodulation interference from the variety of cell and
paging towers in the area.

The Icom R-75 at $449.99 (With free Digital Sound Processor that you
install yourself, or pay someone a fee to install for you, no soldering
required)
http://www.aesham.com/display_pages/r75.shtml

The Yaesu FRG 100B (my personal favorite) at $549.99
http://www.aesham.com/display_pages/frg100b.shtml

Consider the Palstar R30C at $575.00
Perhaps the best of both worlds. It is an extremely small table top radio
that can be powered by internal batteries, making it conveniently
portable. If you are American, an added perk is that it is U.S. made.

http://palstar.com/rec30.htm


The Sony, (notice the price, this is why I hate Sony but like many of
their products) "SONY DOES NOT PERMIT US TO PUBLISH PRICING ON OUR
WEBSITE. PLEASE CONTACT THE AES SALES STAFF FOR PRICING" I paid about
$175 for mine.

And last, but certainly not least, the Sangean ATS-909
SAN ATS909 SANGEAN AM/FM/SW PORT RCVR $249.99

The portables listed above have no photo, so I did not provide a link to
the page that only gives the price. Both of these radios have a big
following, there are many web pages that discuss each model.

All 5 models listed above have sideband capabilities, I would get a radio
with sideband if I were you so that you have the facility if you become
interested in some of the more esoteric listening opportunities that
shortwave has to offer. (HF Aircraft, HAMs, Military, etc.).

Antennas, for the Icom I have a 60 foot outdoor simple wire antenna and
for the Yaesu a wire antenna that goes around the wall of the room at
ceiling level. Both offer good performance. White wire is available so it
can be quite inconspicuous. That the radios get good performance with
these simple antennas should not be mystifying since the portables get
fairly good performance with just a telescoping antenna. For the
portables, a simple wire reel antenna can be purchased that can be
stretched out across the room when better reception is desired.

Regards





I am looking at getting a shortwave radio, and am concerned about
antenna options. My place of residence has a small attic, about 25' x
25', and the lot is small as well, about 40' x 120'. What options
would I have for good reception?

Also, what would be a decent radio? I am looking at keeping the cost
of antenna system + radio under $500, but if there is a compelling
reason to go over I will consider it. Would it be better to get a
shortwave radio, and a scanner to do trunking stuff? Or is there a
RXer that can do DC-Daylight w/trunk tracking?

Jeremy





--
Never say never.
Nothing is absolute.